Call for regional gas grid at Agartala energy conference

AGARTALA: As a two-day international energy conference came to an end on Tuesday, Tripura governorTathagata Roy brought up the need to have a common natural gas grid shared by the three neighbours India, Bangladesh and Myanmar to ensure energy security in the region.

The conference, Present and Future of Natural Gas: Challenges and Opportunities in NE India, had started on Monday.

The gas grid in this part of the world could transform the economies of the three countries, with the region becoming an energy circuit for the entire southeast Asian region, Roy said.

Synergy for energy challenges and opportunities in NE (SECONE), an organization funded by Indian energy companies ONGC, GAIL and Indian Oil Ltd organized the conference to explore the prospects of regional cooperation in the energy sector.

The delegates attending the conference said China has already made agreements for gas cooperation with Myanmar and developing infrastructure for transportation of gas in China.

Md Maqbul E Elahi, former drector of Petro-Bangla, who led the 12-member delegation of Bangladesh said the country has a long border with India's northeastern region and since both areas have good reserves of gas, energy cooperation is required for the interests of both the countries.

"I think both the countries are interested in energy cooperation. Now we need to plan the ways and means of cooperation. We also need to exchange expertise and information regarding the energy reserves," he said. ONGC Tripura asset manager SC Soni said gas exploration had been expedited in the state as the demand for natural gas is very high in the country. "We also need good investment and infrastructure for proper utilization of gas reserves," Soni added.